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The Miami Heat played Game 5 of their first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks without both Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, but that was no problem. The Heat held off the Hawks in a 97-94 victory, earning a 4-1 series win to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Miami did it with yet another sterling defensive effort against Trae Young, plus a shocking team-high 23 points from the rarely used Victor Oladipo.
Then there was Bam Adebayo, who racked up 20 points, 11 rebounds and four assists while anchoring the dominant defensive effort. By getting those 20 points and 11 rebounds, Adebayo tied Heat legend Dwyane Wade for the second-most 20-point, 10-rebound playoff games in franchise history with 10. The only person with more is, you guessed it, LeBron James:
With his 20 points and 11 rebounds in last night's win, Bam Adebayo tied Dwyane Wade for the 2nd-most playoff games with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in Heat franchise history.
Only LeBron James has more. pic.twitter.com/lKDkBWld3N
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 27, 2022
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While Bam's defense was terrific all series, his offense lagged behind a bit prior to Game 5, with only 42 points through four games. It was no big deal because Butler was dominant and the Heat were getting contributions from all over, but they needed Adebayo to step up in Game 5 with the other two stars missing.
Step it up he did with those 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 6-of-8 from the foul line in 41 minutes. Bam had a huge dunk in crunch time as De'Andre Hunter tried to will the Hawks back into the game to save their season.
Adebayo and the Heat will now get some time to heal up ahead of their second-round series. They're surely rooting for the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors to go the full seven games.
